The city's name was Aurelia. It was a place filled with a wonder found nowhere else in the world: a city where the earth produced gold, slowly but surely, as though it were breathing. Nuggets gleaming with a muted light peered out from cracks in the ground, as commonplace as stones by the roadside. When it rained, the water running through the gutters carried glittering grains of gold.
To the people of Aurelia, gold was an ordinary part of life, no different from air or water. Children kicked nuggets about in their games. Gardeners dug troublesome lumps out of the soil and piled them at the edge of the road. In this city, gold—that supposed symbol of wealth—served as a measure of value, but never became an end in itself.
The city was sustained by this inexhaustible resource. At its heart stood a magnificent building known as the Great Workshop, where all the collected nuggets were brought. Skilled artisans transformed them into dazzling coins and works of pure gold so exquisitely crafted that they took one's breath away. Once a month, these were sold to the trading ships that called at the harbor, in exchange for everything Aurelia needed but could not produce: food, clothing, timber, books, and countless other goods.
Alto, the city's young leader, was responsible for overseeing this trade. Only two years had passed since he had succeeded his grandfather. He understood better than anyone both the city's extraordinary prosperity and the vulnerability concealed beneath it. “Lord Alto, this month's fleet has arrived. The ships from the southern continent carry spices and silk, and those from the eastern kingdom are laden with iron goods and fine timber.” His aide, Rio, delivered the report as Alto gazed down at the harbor from his office window. Below him, cargo was being unloaded from the great merchant ships, while sturdy chests filled with Aurelia's gold coins were loaded in its place. It was a lively scene, yet a faint unease stirred in his heart.
We can survive only by selling gold. What if, for some reason, the gold this earth produces were to lose its value? What if the outside world no longer needed our gold? What would become of this city then? Unable to provide our own food or tools, would we simply starve atop a heap of glittering stones?
As if to shatter these troubled thoughts, a piercing bell rang out from the watchtower. This was not the usual signal announcing the arrival of a trading vessel. It signaled an emergency—or the arrival of a visitor of exceptional importance. “What is it?” Alto frowned as a breathless messenger rushed into the room. “My lord! An official delegation has arrived from Grand Metropolis, the largest city-state in the region! A fleet of five ships, led by their flagship!”
Grand Metropolis. Aurelia's greatest trading partner, a vast city whose economy and culture wielded influence across the continent. For its delegation to arrive unannounced, and on such a scale, was unheard of. Alto's unease hardened into certainty. “Prepare to receive them at once. …Something momentous is about to happen.” Outside the window, a solemn procession was slowly disembarking from the magnificent flagship moored in the harbor. The familiar days of Aurelia, the city of gold, were about to come to an end.